GigOptix demos highly linear optical modulator supporting next-gen telecom systems

PALO ALTO, USA: GigOptix Inc. has announced that its LX8401 40Gb/s Thin Film Polymer on Silicon (TFPS) MZ modulator has shown exceptional Spurious Free Dynamic Range (SFDR) and Third Order Inter-modulation (IM3) performance of up to 108dB SFDR as measured by Linear Photonics, LLC.

A new whitepaper, now available on the GigOptix website, details performance results that are superior to those of commercially available Lithium Niobate modulators.

“We are very pleased with the excellent results of our GigOptix proprietary TFPS modulator that demonstrate industry leading linearity figures as measured by Linear Photonics, an acknowledged leader in the field,” commented Dr. Raluca Dinu, GigOptix’s VP and GM of GigOptix-Bothell.

“Coupled with the TFPS technology’s low drive voltages and broad bandwidths, we believe that GigOptix’s TFPS modulators now offer the industry a clear path to next generation optical communication systems, such as Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) based modulation schemes.”

Linearity is a key enabler of next generation high performance optical transmission systems such as 400Gb/s and 1Tb/s optical telecommunication systems. These systems will likely be based on QAM schemes as optical communication systems mimic RF communications’ evolutionary path in increasing data rates through the use of multi-bit symbol encoding schemes.

These advanced modulation techniques require excellent linear performance from the modulator to enable high fidelity replication of multi-level electrical signals into the optical domain with minimum distortion and desensitizing effects.

“The GigOptix LX8401 optical modulator performed exceedingly well in our linearity measurements,” said John MacDonald, Linear Photonics’ VP and GM.

“Linear Photonics has a long history in developing and manufacturing high frequency analog fiber optic equipment, and we have stringent requirements on device linearity performance. We are very excited about using GigOptix’s devices in our next generation high performance solutions.”